Unemployment rate up to 7.4 percentLITTLE ROCK (AP) — Arkansas’ unemployment rate for July was up one-tenth of a percentage point to 7.4 percent. The Arkansas Department of Workforce Services said Monday that the rate was the same in July 2012, though there are 1,700 fewer unemployed state residents than a year ago. The national unemployment rate fell by two-tenths of a percentage point to 7.4 percent for July. The agency says government employment fell by 13,900 jobs and was o...

3 escape from Faulkner County jail in Conway CONWAY (AP) — Faulkner County authorities were searching Saturday for three inmates who escaped form the county jail. Sheriff Andy Shock told reporters Jonathan Jackson, 27, Joel Vermillion Jr., 27, and Stacy Ray Wilson, 41, escaped shortly after 2 p.m. Saturday through a fence in the jail’s recreation yard. Shock said the three then stole a car from a business near the jail and fled. The sheriff’s office website showed Wilson was being held o...

Former Faulkner Co. sheriff’s candidate sentenced LITTLE ROCK (AP) — A former Republican candidate for sheriff in Faulkner County has been sentenced to one month in federal prison for transferring a false birth certificate as part of an effort to discredit another GOP candidate for sheriff. U.S. Attorney Christopher Thyer says 47-year-old Harold Allen Smith of Greenbrier was sentenced Friday after pleading guilty in April. Smith pleaded guilty to creating a false birth certificate showing tha...

Beebe backing Ross' bid for Arkansas governor LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe endorsed former congressman Mike Ross on Saturday in his bid to succeed him as the state's top elected official, touting the Democrat and former congressman as the best choice. "Mike Ross will unite this state with a bipartisan focus on education, job creation and tax reform, and he will serve as the hardworking, compassionate leader we need to continue moving Arkansas forward," the popular governor ...

FS District says its chief security guard legal FORT SMITH (AP) — Fort Smith’s schools superintendent said the recent flap over having armed school employees around students won’t impact his district because the only person carrying a weapon on his campuses is a genuine police officer. Superintendent Benny Gooden said a recent decision by the state Board of Private Investigators and Private Security Agencies to suspend security-guard licenses for school employees won’t apply to his district...

AG rejects wording of pot proposalLITTLE ROCK (AP) — Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel has rejected a request to certify the popular name and ballot title of a proposed constitutional amendment that calls for ending a prohibition on marijuana. McDaniel rejected the request from Arkansans For Medical Cannabis in an opinion on Friday because he said there were ambiguities in the text. The proposed measure must be certified by McDaniel before the group can begin gather5ng...

Ethics panel fines senator $8K for violations LITTLE ROCK (AP) — A Democratic state senator from east Arkansas was fined $8,000 and reprimanded by an ethics panel on Friday after it found that he spent thousands of dollars in campaign funds on women’s clothing, a home theater and other personal items last year. The Arkansas Ethics commission on Friday unanimously voted to fine Democratic Sen. Paul Bookout of Jonesboro $2,000 each for four violations of state law over the spending by his r...

Gov. Beebe declares 6 counties disaster areasLITTLE ROCK (AP) — Gov. Mike Beebe has declared six counties disaster areas following recent floods and storms in north Arkansas. Beebe on Friday declared Benton, Boone, Carroll, Madison, Marion and Newton counties state disaster areas due to damage caused by severe storms and flooding over the past week. The governor’s office says teams of federal, state and local officials will begin formal assessment work on Monday. They will determine whet...

SAU not crying over ending milk program MAGNOLIA (AP) — Southern Arkansas University is dropping its century-old dairy program, saying it couldn’t find enough students who wanted to milk cows twice a day. “It was to the point where we had to decide whether to reinvest a lot of money into a whole new facility or shut it down,” Director of Farm Operations Rusty Hayes said Friday. “One of the main issues was lack of student interest. None of them wanted to wake up at 4:30 a.m. and come...

Motorists must change lanes for tow trucks LITTLE ROCK (AP) — In addition to changing lanes while approaching police cars, fire trucks and ambulances, Arkansas motorists will have to slow down or try to go around tow trucks and utility company vehicles. Under a law that takes effect Friday, motorists must exercise caution around vehicles with blue, red, yellow, white or green lights. State Highway and Transportation Department director Scott Bennett said his agency initially wanted to ...

Woman killed while driving in North Little Rock NORTH LITTLE ROCK (AP) — A woman driving on a busy North Little Rock street was shot and killed while a baby in the back of her car was not injured. Police said Samantha Cass, 31, of North Little Rock died at a local hospital after being shot while driving on McCain Boulevard shortly after 7 p.m. Wednesday. Police say Cass’ infant was in the back seat of the car and was hospitalized as a precaution then later released to the father. Sgt. Brian...

City wants police-car shooting suit dismissed LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Lawyers for a northeast Arkansas city on Thursday asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit from the mother of a young man who authorities say fatally shot himself while handcuffed in the backseat of a police car. Chavis Carter’s mother, Teresa Rudd, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Jonesboro, its police chief and two officers last month. Jonesboro police have faced criticism about the circumstances surrou...

Pastors to urge expanded background checksNORTH LITTLE ROCK (AP) — A group of Arkansas pastors is calling on U.S. Sens. John Boozman and Mark Pryor to reconsider their opposition to expanded background checks for firearms sales. Six pastors urged Boozman and Pryor at a news conference in North Little Rock to reconsider the measure they opposed in April. Boozman is a first-term Republican who was elected in 2010. Pryor is a two-term Democrat seeking re-election next year. The pastors s...

Authorities seek help finding parole violator LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Authorities are looking for a 50-year-old parole violator who was released from jail last week despite a new Department of Community Correction policy that should have kept him behind bars pending a hearing. The Arkansas Department of Community Correction said Thursday that authorities want the public’s help in finding Tony Perry. The agency’s plea comes after the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported Tuesday that Perry was rel...

ExxonMobil official: Pipe could be retired MAYFLOWER (AP) — A vice president at ExxonMobil Pipeline Co. says it’s possible a 65-year-old pipe that leaked oil into a Mayflower neighborhood could be taken out of service. Karen Tyrone, the company’s vice president of operations, told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (http://bit.ly/1byv1zT ) in a story published Thursday that it is too early to know whether the Pegasus pipeline will be closed. “It is within the realm of possibilities and cons...

Garland County seeks killer in 1997 double-slaying HOT SPRINGS (AP) — Investigators in Garland County hope new information comes to light that leads to the killers behind a double slaying in 1997. Authorities said Teela Hudson, 17, and her boyfriend, Frank Steven Delaney, 20, were shot dead after Delaney picked up Hudson after her shift at a restaurant. Investigators said it appeared the victims were killed by two people firing different weapons in the Aug. 31, 1997, attack. A gun found in Hot...

Board: No to arming teachers as guardsLITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Board of Private Investigators and Security Agencies decided to follow the legal advice of Attorney General Dustin McDaniel on Wednesday by suspending security guard commissions it had granted to school district employees so that staff members could carry weapons. The vote unanimously supported McDaniel’s opinion. A second vote suspended commissions of all people commissioned as a security officer while a school dist...

Aldrin gives vision for going to MarsLITTLE ROCK (AP) — Former astronaut Buzz Aldrin wants people to go beyond the moon and strive for human exploration of Mars. Aldrin detailed his vision on Wednesday in a talk organized by the Clinton School of Public Service. The second person to walk on the moon, Aldrin has a new book out on what’s needed to get a mission to Mars off the ground. Aldrin wants to do more than visit other planets, he wants people to establish colonies and make h...

Girl surviving often-fatal brain infection LITTLE ROCK (AP) — A kind of meningitis caused by a brain-eating amoeba called Naegleria fowleri is incredibly rare, but it’s almost always fatal. So it’s remarkable that 12-year-old Kali Hardig is alive and responsive after she was diagnosed with such a case last month in Arkansas. “Up to Kali’s case, there were only two reported survivors,” said Dr. Mark Heulitt, one of the doctors who treated her. “Now, Kali’s the third.” There have been ne...